EXCLUSIVE: FBI Militia Informant Tells All

Bill Fulton, undercover FBI informant in the “Alaska Militia Trial,” gave a lengthy interview to The Mudflats about his role in the case, and his controversial life in Anchorage before it was revealed. In this article, he shares his candid opinion about local Anchorage media, national progressive media, Joe Miller, and what they got wrong. Yours truly didn’t even escape entirely unscathed.

Bill Fulton came to Alaska, the biggest small town in the world, and became instantly “known.” He owned a shop in Anchorage that was utterly unforgettable. A military supply store, which doubled as offices for a security company, and a fugitive recovery service. The name was Drop Zone, and to members of the military, outdoor and gun enthusiasts, Alaska survivalists, and members of the many militia groups in the state, it was a haven and a gathering place. To those outside that world, who drove past the foreboding store front and saw the large poster of Obama with a joker face in the window, it was a little creepy to say the least.

Its owner was chummy with well-known fringe right wing personalities in Anchorage, like radio personality Eddie Burke and other outspoken Tea Party activists. His security services were utilized widely, including by then US Senate candidate Joe Miller. Fulton’s company provided security for Miller, whom he characterizes as “paranoid.”

The security wing of Drop Zone was forced to shut down after an infamous incident in which Fulton arrested Alaska Dispatch journalist Tony Hopfinger at a Miller campaign event. Fulton calls what happened “the Hopfinger incident,” and after it went viral, and hit the national media, Hopfinger and Fulton were paired forever – broadcast into living rooms across the country. To many, Hopfinger became a symbol of the First Amendment, the rights of journalists, and those who stood nose-to-nose with a right wing faction whom they saw as becoming increasingly militant. But on the other side, the militia movement, and those with anti-media anti-government sentiments who believed the Tea Party candidate was the last best hope, saw Fulton as a hero with real steely-spine cred, defending the candidate, and sticking it to the liberal media.

Miller won the Republican nomination in 2010 with his support from the Tea Party crowd, but was ultimately defeated in a historic write-in candidacy by the incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.

During the course of the militia trial, Fulton was outed as one of the two informants the FBI used to solidify their case against Cox and others. He was immediately whisked out of Alaska, and he and his family were located out of reach of those who might wish him harm. Imagine finding out that the dynamic and infamous poster boy for one side, is really a mole for the other side. The right wing felt betrayed and duped. The left had an awkward moment where the guy they loved to hate became the guy they were supposed to just love, and the harsh words and vitriol they’d hurled in his direction became a little awkward. Old habits die hard.

Hero to goat, and goat to hero in a matter of moments for Fulton. For Alaska, there was one big simultaneous, “Holy crap.”

After the trial drew to a close, militia leader Schaeffer Cox, and Lonnie Vernon both received more than 25 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder, and a third member Coleman Barney got a 5 year sentence on weapons charges.

And Fulton was now free to speak. Speak he did to Salon, the Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, and other outlets – national and local – including the Alaska Dispatch, the online newspaper started by Tony Hopfinger, of the Hopfinger incident.

And as you can imagine, with the worlds of everyone who had contact with Fulton turned upside-down, there was a flurry of accusations and damage control. Fulton called Miller paranoid and talked about fitting him with a bullet-proof vest on primary night in the bathroom at Election Central. Miller countered by saying that Fulton had been following him around, and was exaggerating Miller’s desire for protection. Others on the right began accusing Fulton of working for the left, and deliberately trying to sabotage Miller’s campaign by falsely arresting Hopfinger just to give Miller bad press.

And today, a hyperbolic story in the Alaska Dispatch asserts that Fulton “apparently had an agenda to undermine Miller’s campaign.” Not “apparent” to Fulton who said that the Huffington Post had taken some offhanded comments, and created “a hit piece on Miller, which the Dispatch (who can contact me but didn’t) runs an article based off theirs and solidifies, and regurgitates the slant he put on it. Frustrating.”

I spend four and a half hours on the phone Friday. I’m not sure how much time others did, but I figured the best way to find out what Fulton was actually thinking was not to cut and paste the impressions of “Outside journalists,” whose opinions are generally condemned by Craig Medred, the author of the Alaska Dispatch piece, but simply to ask Fulton himself. Since he’s the only real source, any journalism had to originate with him. There’s no need to “play telephone” as a story gets further and further from its primary source.

I’ve reported enough on the trial, and the characters in it to know that people are complicated, and rarely fit the stereotype. So, rather than to rely on pre-existing conclusions, or call Fulton a “rogue security agent,” I decided to let him tell his own story, and let the reader decide.

THE MEETING

Devon: So, you first met Schaeffer Cox in a meeting with Joe Miller, correct?

Fulton: It was at the 2008 Republican convention – a meeting with (Palin aide) Frank Bailey and Joe. I’ve known Joe for a long time. It’s funny to see what they’re putting out.

So, Schaeffer was this young up-and-coming guy. They said, “He can bring Ron Paul delegates – delegates to help with the coup to oust [Republican Party Chair] Randy Ruedrich.

[Activists like Miller, and Bailey, with the nod from then Governor Sarah Palin, were actively seeking to eliminate Ruedrich whose corrupt practices Palin had exposed, and replace him with Tea Partier Cathy Giessel (now a state senator), or Miller himself. They were unsuccessful in 2008, but managed to replace Ruedrich at his retirement with Tea Partier Russ Millette, the new incoming Chair.]

Fulton: And I’m thinking there’s something wrong with this guy. He wouldn’t shut up. This guys is like a complete nobody, except that he won’t shut the hell up. He keeps interrupting Frank and Joe. I’m trying to listen, which is what you do as a junior. I’m thinking, “Who is this guy? Who does he think he is?”

I still find this as unbelievable as everyone. This is impossible. This is nuts. I can tell you that every so often I have to ask, “Did this really happen? It’s so crazy. It can only happen in Alaska, because everybody knows everybody.

Somebody not from Alaska wouldn’t understand that something like this can just happen. It could only happen there.

The fact that I as a first time delegate was sitting in a smoke filled room with these guys.

And this is where I first figured out Joe Miller was paranoid. After that meeting, it was either that night or the next day, Joe’s like, “Hey, you have a security company, that does personal protection stuff, right?”

“Well, somebody loosened the nuts on my SUV, and this has happened, and that’s happened…”

And so I pull out our threat assessment form, because we actually had a form. And I started asking him questions – and he doesn’t know who it is, and he doesn’t know why they’re doing it. So, the whole threat assessment doesn’t work – which is kind of what we base these whole things off of.

Fulton: I said, “Sure. We’ll pull a security team in, and do security on you.” At this point I’m like, screw it. Why not? He’s a friend of the governor, he wants our help, fine. You know? So, I pull a team in, we run a security detail on him. The next time we did security for him was the night he won the Republican nomination for Senate, against Murkowski.

WHO INVITED COX?

Devon: Before we move on, a spokesman for Joe Miller stated that, “Fulton may very well have invited Cox [to the meeting], but Joe does not have any specific memory of inviting him to the meeting.” Did you have a comment on that?

Fulton: Bullshit! He didn’t know Cox? Cox is the one who knew Miller’s kids! They knew each other. He’d been helping Joe out on his campaign. I mean, come on. Really? I really don’t like politicians. On either side. They all make me angry. But I guess he’s not even a politician any more – he’s a blogger now, or something.

THE POLITICS

Devon: Somebody also quoted you as saying you’ve “become disillusioned” with Joe Miller’s politics, and I wondered what that meant.

Fulton: (laughs)

Devon: Because I didn’t get the impression that you were ever in line with his politics to begin with.

Fulton: No, not at all!

Devon: So “becoming disillusioned” is a mischaracterization.

Fulton: (laughs) Yes.

I had a store that sold items to the military, and crazy right-wing people. Our relationship with Joe Miller and anyone else in the right wing was to further those causes. My politics are that I’m an Independent. I don’t carry a party. I’m very, very socially liberal, and fiscally conservative.

I don’t think we should spend money on shit that doesn’t work. But I think that if two gay people want to get married, I think that’s great, and I don’t even think we should have a debate on it. I just think that’s asinine. And global warming is real.

Devon: And Barack Obama?

Fulton: I’ve sworn to uphold and protect the Constitution. That’s why I do a lot of what I do. He’s better than the guy with the magic underwear, or somebody stupid enough to pick Sarah Palin as a running mate.

But, I mean, let’s look at our options, here. I’m definitely not happy with the guy. There are a lot of things I don’t like. He said he’d get us out of Afghanistan, and close Gitmo. He’s using all the drone strikes. There’s a lot of things with him I’m not happy about. But there are also a lot of things about him that make him the lesser of two evils in my mind. They’re all politicians. It’s not like any of them are great. It’s just I don’t think he believes in magic underwear, and that’s enough for me. And you can quote me on that one.

Devon: OK, I will.

SABOTAGE?

Devon: And I want to get your comment on another quote from Bill Peck, Joe Miller’s communications person.

Fulton: Joe Miller has a communications person?

Devon: He does. And he said, “Although Joe has not adopted this theory, some have suggested that Fulton may have been used by the federal government to sabotage Joe Miller’s campaign.

Fulton: Absolutely not. Unequivocably, absolutely, NOT. He did that all on his own. I had bigger fish to fry than Joe Miller’s campaign, or Lisa Murkowski.

And I’ll get into more when we talk about the Hopfinger incident, and you’ll probably be able to write the best of anyone about that. Those were the dark days.

EDDIE BURKE AS MUSE

Devon: Thank you. I’ll certainly try. Can I ask how exactly were you involved in Eddie Burke’s campaign? Were you just security, or did you have another function?

[Eddie Burke was a well-known and infamous former radio talk show host in Anchorage. He and Fulton were often seen together. Burke ran an unsuccessful campaign for Lt. Governor in 2010.]

Fulton: His wife was the campaign manager, and I was the treasurer, or the campaign advisor or something. And I like Eddie. I don’t believe everything that he believes, but I kind of like Eddie. He’s a big, gruff, kind of rude guy, a Navy vet with lots of good stories. And I kind of used him as my… what do actors use to get ready for their roles? He was my case study. Eddie Burke was good for business at the shop, and he was deeply embedded with the fringe right wing, which you know. And if one is playing in the world of the fringe right wing, there’s nothing better than helping their poster boy run for public office. It might actually help you get in deeper. I worked for Eddie, and again, there was no “sabotage” there. I did my job. Even though I know that the left-wing conspiracy theorists (which I did not even know existed until I read the Huffington Post today) would like to believe that I was the cape-wearing Superman liberal superhero, we all just had a job to do. If it meant that I was going to go be Eddie Burke’s treasurer, then that’s exactly what I did. If it meant go do security for Joe Miller, that’s what I did.

The whole Joe Miller thing, I think, is a little paranoia on their part. It wasn’t about that. It was never about that.

It was about us, integrating ourselves. And it wasn’t like the FBI said, “Hey, go work for Joe Miller. It was me going, “You know what? That’s a good opportunity. We’re going to do that.”

It wasn’t them saying, “Hey, get in close with Eddie Burke.” It was me going, “You know, that’ll be good for business at the shop, and whatever the shop made, we just recycled back into investigations.

It’s kind of funny to see what’s coming out now on both sides, that there’s this huge conspiracy theory thing. I mean, Joe Miller was connected to the right wing, so…

For God’s sake, he’s got guys walking down the street with assault weapons next to his Hummer. If you think that somebody who’s trying to get in with the right wing is not going to cozy up next to him, you’re out of your mind.

But there was nothing nefarious there, just because I didn’t like him didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do the job. But there’s a lot of people who will just never accept that.

Devon: Oh, I know. Believe me. Yeah. From writing as much as I have about Sarah Palin, you don’t have to explain that phenomenon. I totally get it.

Fulton: There’s even a lot of liberal people out there who can’t accept the fact that I’m not a right wing crazy that was trying to avoid criminal charges. There are still people out there saying that. Even on Democratic Underground today. I even responded to some guy’s post saying that I was under investigation for illegal weapons sales. And I’m just like, “Come on, folks… It was said in court, not just by me, but by multiple federal agents that I was not under investigation for anything.”

Devon: Right. I remember that.

Fulton: I wasn’t a criminal. And I see a lot of this on the right wing, but even on the left wing, a lot of those people are never going to accept the truth. And because of the Hopfinger incident a lot of that was reported by the media – not you in particular – but there was some from you and Shannyn [Moore], but not the majority from you guys, but a lot of that will forever be questioned. That’s just my opinion on that.

Devon: Yes, I think that’s true. I think it’s a valid opinion. People tend to believe the first thing they hear. So back on track…

JOE MILLER & THE BULLETPROOF VEST

Fulton: So, Eddie loses, I’m at Election Central. And this is something that is total bullshit that they’re reporting on, saying I was following Joe Miller around. He came over to me and was like, “Hey, Bill. Do you have a bullet-proof vest?” And I told this as a funny story to Ryan at the Huffington Post when he interviewed me. I told him as just a funny story and he turned the whole article into it.

But as Joe Miller is winning this nomination, we’re in the bathroom of the Egan Center and I’m fitting him in a bulletproof vest. I just found it freaking hilarious. So that’s the bullet-proof vest story. And then he asked me if I had a few guys around. I already knew Joe was a little bit nuts after the first thing, so I was like, “OK. Par for the course. But, hey; the guy might be a US senator and he’s nuts, so I better get close – it’s my job.

So, we did security for him, dropped him off at the travel trailer he was staying at, and then I didn’t see Joe again until the Hopfinger incident.

Devon: He was staying in a travel trailer?

Fulton: Yeah, that night. It was like an RV.

I don’t know whose RV it was. I really didn’t care.

By the time we got back there it was like 3 in the morning, and I needed to get my body armor back and go home. I had fugitives to capture the next day and I needed that.

Devon: Gosh, you have such a boring job.

Fulton: Yeah, I had a real boring job. (laughs) I don’t miss it, though. This is nice. I pick up my kids from school, I help with crafts. I like that.

So, the next time our story picks up is going to be the Hopfinger incident, which a lot of people up there are still interested in.

THE HOPFINGER INCIDENT

Fulton: This is what happened. The night before his campaign event, I get a call from somebody in his campaign. “Joe’s had some problems with people,” and I just start thinking in my head again, “this guy’s starting to get a little old.”

“So, can you guys pull some security for us?” I’m like, “Sure man, no problem.” You know? I was like, “What time? Where do you need us?” And just so you know, we do security unarmed. There was a lot of reporting when that happened that we were armed. I want to make it clear that while we wore body armor, we did not do armed security. Because there’s been a lot of reporting that we were armed. And that’s not the case at all.

So, we get to the school, I check in with the front office, said we were security, he shows us around, we check radios. Again, we do this all the time. Nothing different. And then one of the Joe Miller campaign workers comes in, and she’s like, “Why are you guys wearing suits?” And I said, “Because we’re doing security. I mean, we can go put on big shirts that say ‘Security’…” And she’s like, “No, but you guys are going to kind of stand out.” And I told her, “That’s kind of the idea, when you do security. You don’t want people doing things.

And I figured out that this was one of the national people who would have come in to help him. And then she says, “Um, well, can you guys not stand up?” And I’m like, “What kind of security do you actually want us to do here?” “Well, you know, somebody could damage something in the school, or if somebody rushes Joe…” And we’re like, “Well, that’s kind of why we should be standing up.”

And the campaign lady says, “Yeah, but you know, there’s already a little talk that Joe’s paranoid in the media.” And I’m thinking in my brain, “Yeah, no shit!”

(laughs) But I said, “Yeah, OK.” So I told the guys to take their ear pieces out of their ears, sit down around the room, keep your eyes open, and if anything looks weird we’ll deal with it then.”

And we also at that time got a copy of the lease. Because we had to make sure they had a lease on the building, which made it private property at the time. So, we got a copy of the lease and we’re good to go. Because you can’t do anything on school district property, or any kind of government property unless it’s leased, you know what I’m saying?

Devon: Yeah, I do. Although I didn’t at the time.

Fulton: So, you can’t just say, “Hey, the school’s going to let us use the school building, and bring security in. It doesn’t work like that. Because security has to have the authority for the building under lease law in Alaska, and it’s important for us. So we get a copy of the lease, we sit down, it’s just a little campaign thing. It’s all over.

So afterwards, the guys stood up, it’s time for Joe to leave, and I’ve got this lady’s words in the back of my mind, and I’m thinking we should probably back off a little bit, while Joe’s leaving, but keep him within eyesight. And we put our radios back in our ears so we could talk to each other.

And for us, this is getting really uncomfortable because we do these types of security details all the time, but we’re not trying to hide while we do them – we just do them.

So, as Joe’s leaving, this guy starts running towards him, yelling things at him, with this white thing in his hand.

And Joe turns around and looks at me, and he’s got this look in his eyes like, “Do something!” And I’m like, “Let’s go, guys,” because we do this all the time. This is some crazy guy.

We go up, and we get between Joe and this guy, and this guy is just screaming these questions at Joe, and stuff, and I’m wondering if this is one of those people they talked about. And he starts banging up against us. And I get between him and Joe, because this is the job we were hired for.

And so I start explaining to him that he needs to leave. And he starts yelling, “This is a public event!” And I’m like, “No, It’s a private event.”

“Well, it’s a public school and I’m allowed to be here!” And I’m saying, “No, it is a public school during the day, but we have a lease for this facility, and it’s private property right now, so you need to leave. It’s a private event that the public was invited to, and you need to leave.” We keep telling him he needs to leave, and then we start in with the trespass. And we have a policy that you trespass them 3 times before you put them in custody. Well, we’re telling him that he’s trespassing, and then it comes to this thing where he’s with the press. Well, everyone else that was there with the press that we knew about had badges on. You know what I’m talking about? Or they had a jacket that said KTUU, or they had like you see at a concert except that it had their picture, and Anchorage Daily News on it or something. So, everybody had these badges and stuff on. This guy didn’t have that on.

At this point I figured out that the little thing he was holding was a camera. But, I’m like, you know dude, whatever. I don’t care what your job is, you’re trespassing, and you need to leave. “No, I don’t! This is a public school!” And I’m like, “No, you can’t do any of this.” And I don’t know what’s going on with Joe behind me at this point, because I’m busy dealing with this – what I thought was a crazy guy in front of us.

As we’re working through this, and telling him he’s trespassing – all this transpired in 3 or 4 minutes. It doesn’t take you that long to get through all this. There’s a guy that comes along side him, and I think he did think it was one of our guys, and he pushes the guy into one of the lockers in the hallway. At that point I said, “That’s it, you’re done. You’re under arrest.” And he’s like, “You can’t arrest me, I’m a reporter!” And I said, “Well actually I can, and I am.” So, we put Tony into custody, take him around the corner, and sit him in a chair where he’ll be comfortable and he’ll be away from other people, because that’s one of our policies. We don’t want to arrest someone and leave them out there where they can hurt themselves, someone else can hurt them, or they’re a spectacle.

And all the other reporters in the room thought that we were trying to get him away from them. And what they didn’t understand was that we have a responsibility, once we put someone into custody before we pass them along to the police. If anything happens to that human being, we are responsible for it. Period. Until the police show up. So we started asking the other reporters to back off and leave, and they start refusing. So we start again, back to our policy – you’re trespassing, you need to leave. During this, one of our guys has called APD, told him that we have a trespassing issue, which we had done a hundred times before.

The unique thing about the law in Alaska is that anybody can arrest anyone for any crime that they see. So, if you witness a crime, and it’s an arrestable offense, you can actually go arrest somebody. You don’t need to be a cop, you don’t need to be a licensed security guard. And I wanted to explain all that because that never got explained correctly. Alaska still has a lot of those laws on the books from when there were only like 10 state troopers. So, in Alaska if you observe a crime, you may make the arrest, and deposit them either with the nearest magistrate or the nearest law enforcement person. We, of course, do that all the time with security and bail bonds, because that’s what we do. So for us, up until APD got there, this was totally normal. We had zero idea what this was about to become. It was as straightforward as doing our job, gave him the warnings, touched somebody, escalated the situation, went into custody, we called APD.

As soon as APD gets there, and they figure out it’s a reporter, they said, “We can’t take this guy.” And I make an offhanded comment to the APD dude like “Yeah, dude, thanks for screwing my liability insurance.” It wasn’t like we thought we’d done wrong, even though it played that way in the press. The Sergeant was just like, “hey, we can’t take this guy.” And that was one of the things I was so mad about. That’s kind of messed up that that out of everything else that happens, that comment would come out. My sense of humor – probably not OK to be used at that point in time. (laughs) So, APD says we have to forward charges to the prosecutor, and I was like “Why aren’t you going to take him?” And they were like, “Do you really want the answer to that question?” And I said, “Yeah, I do.”

“They’re not going to spend a million dollars for accusing a reporter of trespass. And we’re not going to give them a million dollars to take him into custody.” And I said, “I don’t care what the guy’s job is, this is the deal.” And he said, “We’ll, forward it to the DA. It’s not going to be on our ass.” And I said, “OK.”

And we kind of cleaned up there, and Tony was giving an interview. His first interview with KTUU he admitted to pushing someone. He never really admitted to it after that. But that’s OK. I don’t really hold any ill will against Tony, and if Tony actually looks back on it, I think he does still hold some ill will towards me. But if he actually looks back on it, that event catapulted him into the stratosphere of liberal love. He got to meet Maddow, The Dispatch started paying its own bills. So all in all, it didn’t work out so bad for Mr. Hopfinger. I don’t want to make it sound like it was good that we arrested him, but it was actually good for him that he got arrested. It was 20 minutes of his life that he got to sit there, and then it was the next two months of him being foo-fooed over by every reporter in the country.

THE BLOWBACK

I remember after that KTUU wanted a statement from me, and the campaign approved it. And I went down to KTUU, and I walk through, andthere’s this lady there, and a reporter from ADN. I don’t remember the name, and she asked if I minded talking to him and I I said, “No. Not at all. We don’t have anything to hide.” So I start talking and this guy starts screaming at me. Up until this event, I actually thought… I had a different impression of the media. This reporter is like, “You knew that the guy was a reporter, and Joe Miller’s people told you who this guy was beforehand.” And I’m like “who is this guy? You’re a reporter. You’re not supposed to be telling me what my thoughts are. I’m here to answer questions to who they may be.” And I’m thinking what is wrong with this dude? And that’s when I think it began to dawn on me that there was an issue going on here, and this is really going to suck. Because, even now, when I look back on that and think you’re not allowed to create your own story, and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. He was so mad that we’d arrested another reporter that he had lost total sight of actually being a journalist. It really sucked. But that’s when I figured out this whole thing was going to suck.

And over the next couple days, it was you and Shannyn and ADN and a lot of the local guys. After Maddow and Olbermann picked it up, and what they said, that’s when the death threats rolled in. And I think that was the hardest on me, and definitely on my wife.

Devon: Wow, I didn’t realize that.

Fulton: Oh, yeah. We had people calling our house, telling my wife they were going to come kill our kids, and burn our house down, and that we were Nazis. And we had people coming by our house, people following me and my wife around town. I was up for 3 days straight trying to answer phone calls at the shop. Because the media wouldn’t stop calling, and then crazy people wouldn’t stop calling.

So about 2 days into this, the FBI steps in and says, “Hey, we are the FBI, we handle interstate threats via telecom. We can deal with this.” And I said, “Absolutely not. I have not done the last two and a half years worth of work to have it ruined by you guys stepping in and helping.” You know? It was kind of one of those Catch 22 things, where the militia was loving us at that time, right?

They just thought we were the greatest thing since sliced bread because we’d just arrested this reporter, and protected Joe Miller. And the press hated us, which made the militia like us more.

And you couldn’t have the FBI investigate the death threats because it would have exposed that we were… well, it wouldn’t have exposed that I was working with the FBI, but it would have told the militia that we’d invited the FBI to help us, you know what I’m saying.

Devon: Yeah, I see what you’re saying.

Fulton: So all in all, I had to just sit there and take it, and it just sucked. Because up until then, I watchedMaddow. I watched Olbermann. These were people that I got my news from .

I remember when Maddow called me a Nazi, and I was just like, “What the…?”

Devon: That must have been very surreal.

Fulton: Oh, it was! I remember when her producers called me. It was the day after she aired that show where she talked about me on it. And they were like, “She’s coming up to Alaska. Would you like to do an interview?” And I said, “Well, normally you interview people before you do a segment on them – the same thing you guys did last week when you called me a nazi. Normally one would do an interview before you put that out to the world. There’s no freaking way I’m going to give you an interview, (laughs) You just called me a nazi on national TV! On top of that, I couldn’t have given them an interview anyway, because 90% of it would have been false. Talking Points Memo asked me a question – are you part of the militia? And I said no, we do business with the militia. If you look at the questions I answered, they were all honestly answered, but I was just unable to answer them fully.

Devon: So how did this all play out?

Then I became the “militia supply store.” Then I became a “member of the militia.” I became all these things I wasn’t, in the media. And it was destroying my reputation and my family, so it was hard. That was probably the darkest time for me in this whole investigation.

The darkest time was having to deal with my wife crying in a corner because she got another death threat, and not being able to do anything about it because we had dangerous people we needed to catch.

And I was disappointed with the left wing. I really was. I mean, I know that they were left-wing crazies out there, but they were just as bad as the right wing.

Devon: I guess in a way it validates the good job you were doing. You were clearly convincing to both sides.

Fulton: Yeah, I guess.

I’ve got this letter hanging on my wall. I kept it and I can read it to you.

It says:

“Dear Nazi Douche C**t,” which is why I kept it. (chuckles) Because I was in the military for 8 years, and I have heard a lot of profanity, and I have used a lot of profanity, as you well know.

Devon: Yes, I remember the surveillance tapes.

Fulton: I had never heard that before, and I liked it, so I kept the letter and framed it and put it on my wall. The guy that wrote it would probably be very unhappy to know that it’s there.

It says:

“You should be thrown in jail for trampling civil liberties and unlawfully detaining a journalist,” and it’s OK because he wrote it out in ink, and people just don’t do that any more unless they care.

“You teabaggers are showing your true colors as jack-booted, wannabe Gestapo thugs. You have serious issues. Go into therapy. Go into a closet and suck each other off. Whatever. Just stop assaulting citizens at the bidding of your Nazi wannabe overlords. Fuck you.”

That’s it verbatim – a letter I received where they guy used a Mutual of Omaha envelope so there wasn’t a return address, and had been sent from a mailbox, and he rubbed it clean and washed the paper.

And that’s the general tone of the letters and the phone calls that we were receiving, but I kept that one because I’d never heard that particular phrase of profanity, and had my eyes opened to that.

Devon: How was this affecting your wife?

Fulton: I’ve been in the army. It freaked me out a little bit but it didn’t really faze me. My wife? If I ever find the people who made those phone calls, I’m going to want to punch them all in the face individually. There was just no reason to do that to her. You know? That really, really sucked.

Devon: Is there anything else you think people got wrong?

Fulton: The people that said we were a security guard agency, which we weren’t. The statute for a security guard agency in Alaska is very, very definitive, and we stay away from it. Always did. We called our guys ‘agents.’ We didn’t ever protect facilities, we protected individuals or events. There was a bar exemption, so we protected bars, but we never did anything in the security guard license realm. We never called ourselves that, and we’d actually gone to the state prior, the year before, to make sure that we were good.

And so the media reported, “They’re being investigated by the Alaska State Troopers.” Well, a week later the investigation was over, but nobody reported that we got cleared. And “They’re being investigated by APD.” Even the FBI again asked if we needed help, and I was like, “No, we’re good. It was a clean arrest, it was a good arrest.” The attorney for Anchorage never prosecuted us for making a false arrest, which he would have done if we had. We just didn’t. And he chose not to prosecute Tony’s charge, and I believe he was right. It wouldn’t have been worth the money.

The media not only painted an incorrect picture of what went on, they continued to paint that picture for quite a few weeks, because it didn’t fit what they wanted it to fit.

They wanted it to fit a certain mold, and it didn’t. And both sides of the media do it all the time – I’m not blaming any particular side here. But this was the first time I ever saw it that blatant. And it was sad. We had to close down our security business after that, because I wasn’t willing to go through it again. And my wife told me to close it down because we weren’t going through it again. When I closed that down, that was the jobs for some of my guys, so I had to let guys go.

We closed down the fugitive recovery business, where we got 600 fugitives in 2 years that didn’t cost the taxpayers of Anchorage a dime. And that got closed down over it.

And then you had APD who had two fugitive recovery guys that would capture, you know, maybe 30 guys a year. There were times when they asked us to slow down because the jail was full. There were days we’d go out and get 10, 15, 20 people in a day. There were a lot of unforeseen consequences to that. And it gave us huge props from the right wing, but it really hurt our ability to do our jobs, which was essentially tracking these guys . We couldn’t, because we had to dal with the media, and people calling in death threats, and driving by our homes.

The two poor guys that were there in the army had to deal with all that. The funny thing about that is how everyone said they didn’t have permission. They did. They’d had a change of command, and their new commander hadn’t given them permission yet. They still had permission from their old commander. These guys never got in trouble for that because they never did anything wrong. They had permission. But when the media asked, “Has their commander given them permission?” the Army, of course, is going to cover its ass. And the commander is going to say, “No, I never gave permission,” because he’d only gotten there a week earlier. Of course he hadn’t, but the one who’d been there the year prior had. So everybody was covering their own ass, and their own agenda. That’s the way it turned out. But then again, it was kind of good for us on getting our stripes with the militia. Yeah. But it sucked. Sorry. I didn’t mean to talk about it for that long. It was just very dark.

Devon: Oh, that’s OK. It sounds like what you’re saying was the most frustrating part was not being able to say then what you just said now.

Fulton: Yeah. I’m not that guy. That was probably the worst part. And also to have my wife be brought into it and not be able to defend her against it. Any time that you do something like this, and it affects your family negatively, and you can’t fix it. That sucks, because then you’re having to choose other people’s safety and other people’s wellbeing over the wellbeing of your family. I had to do that when we had to move out when they closed up the case with Schaeffer. I had to make the decision to give up a million dollar business and move my family out of Alaska so Schaeffer Cox doesn’t kill people. Those are the tougher decisions in this job, and they suck, and there is no right decision in it. I’d still do it again but it does suck. My wife is a very strong, wonderful woman.

Devon: It sounds like it.

Fulton: Yeah. She’d have to be to put up with me.

Devon: And your crazy job.

Fulton: Yeah, everybody’s got their crazy stuff. At least I’m not into golf. I find better hobbies than golf.

Thank you Bill for breaking your story and exposing this group of “thugs” who seem to target people…
You should put up a webpage so folks that might have been a victim can record their happenings…
Then may be you can forward that to the FBI and get an investigation on that matter…
From the way it sounds, some were engaged in “domestic-terrorism” and were also followed around…
I told some who contacted me really freaked out…so how does it feel to be a celebrity? tension breaker…
Of course, after that comment I recommended they call the police to report such actions…so it’s on record…
It must have been terrible to be stalked like that…I told those who called to go PI on them…take pics of the vehicle and get the plate numbers…become a Criminal Minds agent I told them…then report it to the police…
So are you still being stalked? People that do that need to be locked up and throw away the key in my opinoin!
Thanks for all your information and keep your head up…power of the peoples not the politicians…lol…sounds like you had fun dealing with Joe Miller…like babysitting probably…haha…Stay Safe…

Feels a little weird to be a “celebrity” but my moment in the spot light will be over in a couple of weeks so I’m trying to be sensible about the whole thing.

First off and I don’t know if folks understand this, I don’t get to decide what gets investigated. Depending on what the crime is I may not even know the people to talk to if I did find something out. I work a very small sliver of the overall pie and (don’t get me wrong I think my work is important ) I have almost no power to start stop or involve myself in any investigation. The relationship I have is very one sided they ask I deliver if I can, I have no idea what happens once I deliver or why “they” asked to begin with. The only way I’m made aware of whats going on is if it goes to arrest and trial.

Doing what I do is an awesome opportunity to help my country, I love it I really do but its also frustrating, pays next to nothing (well in my case less than nothing) 99.9% of the time you never find out if you helped or not, and the only thanks you’ll get is more work.

Your advise to these folks is good the more information they collect the better off they are when they speak to law enforcement. As for the blog maybe at some point when the country calms down a little bit, but for right now I’m just to busy.

I do have a question: have you talked to Tony Hopfinger since the arrest you made at the Miller event? Would it be possible to just yell a lot and break some satisfying glass type things while going over what happened and to reach some middle ground?

I dont know Tony hasn’t reached out and neither have I. Were both pretty set in our feelings towards what happened and given the tone over there lately well……………..I’m going to step back and let Craig get his crazy out before I try anything like that if I try anything like that at all. I like the dispatch and think very highly of some of there staff Jill Burke in particular is as good as they get.

Thanks. I think most level headed readers have seen the crazy, which is why the whole thing looks like an emotional deal rather than a talked-about-figured-out-rational-after-breaking-things deal. It will take the time it takes!

WELL…”it’s complicated” does not begin to encompass the magnitude of it all…

This kid was adopted by Chuck Heaths best bud…again…so what?

WELL…there is a HUGE trust fund that the kid NEVER saw…

It started a long time ago…back and forth crimes committed against this kid…

In 1989, the grandfather died…after that the kid was approached by someone who claimed to be a
“life assurance” agent…forced the kid to sign papers…I have heard of life insurance but “assurance” gives me some red flags of concern…

A policy of 10,000 dollars was set up for 100 a month payments…

Problem with all that is the cash value factor was 108 million dollars…in 1989…current value???

Then the hanging of a Vietnam veteran not more than a week after the kid goes into contracting…

The kid actually started to throw up and was admitted to the hospital the night before…

Returning home, a flood of peoples were there to give the bad news…

The kid was suspicious…and asked questions no one wants to answer…

Kind of like now…all this crap happens to this kid…WHY???

Senator Hollis French knows this kid deeming “you are no threat to anyone” leaving more questions…

I am asking questions too…as an observer of this whole ordeal I have to suspect some embezzling going on…

So it sounds to me like when ever the kid asks questions…crimes happen…very weird…

some of the comments might be from folks who know the situation and are a little pissed off to say the least…so don’t take it personally…

If you met the kid you would say “you remind me of a marine” is the tease we give the kid…many have…

But how is this kid suppose to live when every step is met with this weird crap from the Palins? or minions?

The list of crimes of 35 years against this kid will end up in a courtroom as everyone urges the kid to do so…

And some mentors who are retired attorneys are steaming mad at the State of Alaska for negligence on purpose almost? what gives? really?

I mean the intensity of the “planning” of the life of this kid is SICKENING and worst in Criminal Minds…

Must be the money…or the IDENTITY of the adopted kid…just leave me scratching my head in wonder…

The kid has never owned a gun or committed any crime…crying out loud the kids BF father is a retired Colonel of the USAF…and recalls “medicaid fraud” with the adoptive mother…

so there is something terribly wrong and justice must be served for this kid…

They crucify those they cannot forget…and it’s such a shame they went after this kid for so long…

The kid wanted to resume contracting once coming back to Alaska…

Only to be met by Sarah mother and the adopted stepmom who was “why are you here”?

When the kid told me about that I was weary of crap starting and holy crap did it get bad….

I will try and tell the kid to contact you and may be you can assist…

The kid is a contractor with over 700 applications from VETERANS…prefers to hire them from what I understand…and the Colonel would be the administrator…

It’s a shame this has happened…

and by the way…the kid got Governor Frank Murkowski to reverse the statutes of limitations in 2003…

so again…how is the kid a threat to the Palins and why the “domestic-terrorism” by others? WHY???

I dont really know much about the Palin’s I met them a couple of times so I really cant help out there. I work domestic terrorism and that does not sound like what this kid was involved in, I’m sorry but I don’t think I would be any help to him at all.

My opinion here and only my opinion but it sounds like he needs a good lawyer.

what the kid got put thru can be classified as “domestic terrorism” with the crimes committed…people have died…houses burned down…auto accidents…plane accidents…
the pieces come right back to the Palins and Heaths and their associations with militias…
Started in Idaho I recall…and expands to…that is what you need to find out…there is more than meets the eye…and from I have a few questions…they savagely went after this kid…so something is terribly wrong and whitewashing it won’t fix the exploding evidences that are ready to enter in to the court systems…both in the USA and with the UN council…domestic- terrorism unabated of course…

I thought the Palins had a lot to do with all this corruption and crimes going on? They seem to have slipped away from any prosecutions, except mentions of a pending lawsuit…

I do know that the Office of Special Investigations recommended an individual file against the State of Alaska for all the “domestic-terrorism” put on folks that the Palins deemed “a threat”…

so may be there is a lawsuit coming up…I know if I were targeted like some have been by “the crew” of Palins I would be in the courtroom…

Uh your honor…I am wondering why these crimes occurred and no justice has been served?

I am guessing by my watching the Alaska Superior courts and the Federal Superior Courts the judges are in NO mood for this negligence by elected officials and states that have a long list of “fail to protect” like that poor girl with baby who died…

And in case anyone wasn’t already convinced Norm Olson is yet another dangerous lunatic who moved to Alaska because he’d be in jail by now anywhere else:

from the LA Times:

Norm Olson, who helped created the Alaska Citizens Militia years after rising to national prominence as the head of the Michigan Militia, posted a photo of Fulton on his militia forum and announced to its members Tuesday: “This man is a Benedict Arnold…. a traitor of the lowest kind. Have absolutely nothing to do with this traitor.”

A day earlier, Olson, who is based on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, posted a tongue-in-cheek reference to Fulton, who has left Alaska because of fear of reprisals for his FBI work.

“FBI paid informant, Bill Fulton, was found dead last night from what sources say appears to be an assassination. His hands were bound and a hood was placed over his head. Militia literature was left near the body with a note scribbled, ‘payback’s a bitch,'” Olson wrote in a post on his organization’s Web forum.

“Bill Fulton is very much alive NOW, but he is a man without a country. He was used by the FBI to wreck Joe Miller’s bid for the Alaska Senate and has turned traitor to the militia/patriot cause,” Olson went on.

Someone so totally lacking in shame as to post a fantasy like that on the Internet can only be described as a seditious, cowardly old goon.

“Someone so totally lacking in shame as to post a fantasy like that on the Internet can only be described as a seditious, cowardly old goon.”
AKM would ban me if I said what I really think of that doof so I’m going with your description
Getting tired of the leap to assumption that FBI had anything to do with Mr Miller’s flopped run for Senate.
Mr Miller upset enough people with his own damn self they fell all over themselves to vote for Ms Murkowski. The arrested-reporter routine might have sped up media digging into Mr Miller’s past and such like but the questions had already started. Assuming they never would have otherwise is horsepunky.
(We’d have been better off with Mr McAdams than either of those 2 to my way of thinking but that’s another issue)

Getting tired of the tinfoil hat crap all the way around.
Tired of hokey “patriots” , tired of anti-social causes in the name of freedom and liberty .Pffft!

Mr. Fulton, I just want to say ‘thank you’, for your service to our country. My brother, my husband and 4 of my uncles have served in the military. I know what a sacrifice it is. I sincerely wish the best for you and your family. I am glad you are getting your side of the story out there. Thank you Jeanne for your excellent reporting. Many journalists would do well to model themselves after you.

I know LTC(RET) Blaylock and have for years. Although there are a few correct pieces of information in that document it was neither written nor endorsed by LTC(RET) Blaylock they didn’t even get his rank right. There is absolutely no connection between either the active duty Army or the Alaska National Guard to the Schaeffer Cox Case. This is somebody’s attempt to discredit the National Guard that was to afraid to put there name on it because they knew it was false so they used Ken. Whomever produced this document and posted it on the internet is just as bad as those people in the document there accusing of crimes. This document has affected my good friend (his name and phone number are on it) and misinforms the public as to certain events that may have transpired.

In May of 2012 he testified under oath in Michelle Clark’s probate case (3AN-11-01159pr), stating that she had come to him two days before her death with concerns that she was in trouble, and that a person or persons were going to kill her.

I agree, there are a lot of holes in that document, but there’s a lot of truth in there as well.

That document was posted on December 27, 2012. I’m guessing that it was put out there by the family of Michelle Clark, I have a lot reasons to believe that to be true that I won’t get into here.

I too know Mr Blaylock, and most of the people named in that document.

From my perspective I don’t find it unreasonable at all.

Search for stories about racism, rape, sexual assault and drug use in the California National Guard or the Arizona National Guard, and you’ll see that what’s alleged in the Blaylock document is not that out of line. There is a certain culture that exists within the guard, I witnessed it myself.

Not the drug use per se, but racism, rampant theft……No question about it, and I’d give a sworn statement saying so.

LTCOL Blaylock (ret) also made his concerns known to a person in the State AG’s office who happens to be a member of the NG.

I don’t understand your claim that he couldn’t have written it, the document references an investigation against him as well. It appears that it’s a deposition of some kind, possibly given to the Army CID or to the attorney representing her family.

And we all know how squeaky clean APD is, right ?

Thank you for your time and for your response.

He testified in court that there was an investigation that she was a part of, but not the sole focus of, and that she had told two others about her concerns as well.

I didn’t say he couldn’t have I said he didn’t, after this document broke I spoke to him and he said “I didn’t do that” so after knowing him for 16 years I’ll go with his take on it. I’m not arguing that there isn’t some fact in there, there is just also a lot of BS, there is enough wrong in the world to not drag a bunch of crap into our stories to make it better. Once the author made it look like LTC(RET) Blaylock had written the document when he didn’t it brought into question everything in it. Using the Cox association as an example that whole part is just false. Again I’m not saying there aren’t valid issues raised there, I believe there is some truth just the document on its face is false bringing into question everything in it. I really wish whoever brought that forward had just been honest vetted it and stuck there name on it. But once you start mixing in fact with lies it devalues everything the authors were trying to do. If you do know the authors of that document they owe Ken an apology and should stick there own names on it and take out all the bs, If it is the family of Michelle, Ken would have been more than happy to help them craft a correct version of events

Well then kiddo looks like you will be summoned to federal court as well…and the hits just keep coming…you will be required to testify both in Alaska and Washington DC…
The paper work is in route…we will talk to you then…

Look weird guy your not helping your case here at all but good luck still have no idea what your getting at …………..what “hits”……………..

Still if your trying to expose some wrong……… if I can help you do it no problem just trying to understand your tone here. If its about the whole Blaylock thing he’s more than happy to help you out ……………Do you have some angle or are you just trying to be weird and anonymous to add a little more drama to whatever it is your trying to accomplish. Last I checked there was no federal case in this so good luck on that “summon’s”

It’s a lot better when you ask for help and your not the weird guy on the internet, but to each his own

sounds to me like your scared of what is to come…so what if Lawman says you will appear before court…sounds to me like a spree of crimes in Alaska goes unabated…and the FBI are blindsided…period…but nice try…nice try…

Say what, The Lawman, Considering-
This is getting more than silly for the rest of us here too.

What’s up with changing your “handle” with each comment (under the same wordpress identifier) and rambling on about a twilight world of unidentified crimes, criminals, and courts with vague sinistery admonitions to Mr Fulton?

Never mind, I don’t really want to know.
It is getting to be just too ridiculous already.

Mr Fulton – I don’t have a clue who these other commenters are, I asked you a question and you answered it faithfully, thank you.

I don’t know anything about arms trafficking, or drug smuggling, or houses being burned down.

I do know that the 38th Troop Command (Ezekial 38 ?) doesn’t have a UIC Code, and I know that the website for Joe Lawendowski’s cult is registered to the same PO BOX as Camp Denali, BOX 5800.

And I’ll add this; Michelle Clark was a friend of mine, and this week was the second anniversary of her passing, her family still has not gotten the closure that it deserves.

I knew Michelle long before she ever joined the Guard, and I knew her while she was in the Guard, and I’d bet my life that she did not take her own, she was 6 months pregnant and in the prime of her life, healthy happy and strong.

Sexual assault and rape in the military is rampant, and the patterns are the same. Keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to harm your career, otherwise be prepared for years of abuse and mistreatment if you decide to blow the whistle on your perpetrator(s).

That’s not a culture which is unique to the AKARNG, that’s a culture that’s unique to the military as a whole, Army, AF, CG and the Navy.

When a woman who is serving her country fears her own troops more than the enemy, then that’s a problem.

There is still a culture within the military that says it’s okay to rape or sexually traumatize a woman and not be held accountable for it.

That culture has to change.

If there is cover-up of rape or sexual abuse within the AKARNG, it is going to get exposed, and those responsible for the cover up are going to be known to all.

“Command discretion empowers a commander to decide if the case goes forward to court martial. That same commander is empowered to
determine which JAG officer will serve as prosecutor, which will serve as defense counsel, who oversees the investigation, and may even serve as convening authority and determine disciplinary actions. All of these functions are given to the discretion of one person.”

So this is what I get for trying to make myself available to questions? Look I know nothing about the Palin’s sorry, I work domestic terrorism thats what I do and all I do I cant help or be of assistance on anything else . At this point you guys are just trolls so I’m not going to respond anymore.

Not commenters many here would agree with – your story brings people from all over as I’m sure Jeanne can see in her stats for this post. Some people are stuck in Sarah land – they see nothing else but her, no matter what is being talked about in politics. Some are so steeped in what they hate about her that their own hearts have turned mean and dark because they are under negativity’s thumb.

Well Bill some folks were targets of Palin and her paranoia and the crimes were classified as “domestic-terrorism” by some law officials…it’s normal for some to be a little pissy about it all really…after all your wife was upset at the death threats…and you were followed around…I know some folks who that very thing happened to…and they were bullied and denied legal prosecutions to bring the Palins and helpers to court…I am sure you know the level of corruptions that exist in Alaska…personally I am glad to have you break your story…here in Alaska we have a group of folks who are “in a bubble of reality” and seem to go to the ends of the earth to ” the vulnerable”…I am wondering IF the Palins engaged in “domestic-terrorism” and some have evidences of this…can the FBI investigate that matter?

Thanks, Jeanne, a nice piece so far. I’ll be waiting impatiently for part number 2.

Mr. Fulton, thank you. Hearing that Cox and Co. are going to the big house for quite a while is due in large part to your efforts, well, this citizen thanks you and your family for all you did! I am very pleased that you are now able to tell your side of it all, as I was under the same impression that most others were – the wrong impression. I am more than happy to be dispelled of that.

I’m good about removing potential terrorists from the streets,I’m not completely enthralled with some methods and agencies used to do these necessary at times,dirty jobs. I will reserve judgment until I’m much wiser-in about a month.when I turn older. Good to know one trusted voice from Arizona still has a computer.

Oh, and thanks for the clues to why the AD article was so weird – I just didn’t get it. I’d like to see a piece done by Amanda Coyne with Bill Fulton to clear the air – plus there’s lots of interesting and kind of amazing stuff here. I like the Dispatch and hope they sort of figure this out.

Fascinating! I do like his sense of humor. I do believe him that things got out of control, including a lot of misinformation and lack of follow-up. There was bias all around. I’ve been there – done that – know exactly what it feels like when you just watch, with raised eyebrows, while a script is being written by others and they just keep adding on for more drama w/o stopping to take a breath or check some facts. This is like one of those dreams where you are shouting at people and they don’t look at you, or hear you! Whew.

I cringe at hearing of the type of threats Mr. Fulton’s family received, and again, I do believe him. I wish my area of the political spectrum was devoid of emotional thugs but I know it’s not. Pathetic, threatening and cowardly responses from people turned stupid from fear.

We worked contracts for most of the Bail Bonds Company’s in the state those companies paid for the recovery of the fugitives. If we were picking one up and ran across somebody with a non bonded warrant there were quite a few times we scooped them at the same time so I guess you could call that an unpaid public service we just called it a bonus.

The bulk of our business came from retail and wholesale sales, we also had the security company, along with the fugitive recovery to round it out.

Thanks AKM- this makes a lot more sense than any of the other gobbeldygook written about Mr Fulton in recent days.
Might have something to do with it not being a “story” but a transcript- let HIM talk instead of everyone else.

I was very disappointed in the Dispatch “story”- truly read like an example from beginning logic class – the kind where you pick out all the logical fallacies. Many of the the questionable cause varieties were very well represented
The comments were worse

I don’t know…I kinda got a kick out of the dude that ended with “Up the Republic!” Don’t think that’s what he meant to say, but it sure fits for me! I also chuckled at his criticism of “the idiocy of diversity” – like he can just wish away what is really there. In his mind, apparently he can! How exactly would a Republic get rid of “diversity” to pull a Jean-Luc Picard’s Make-It-So directive?